Life: Political Choices

by | Jun 11, 2018 | Politics

Let’s start with the premise that life isn’t fair nor easy. For millions of people around the globe, obtaining water and food is a daily challenge. Forget about the comforts Americans take for granted such as electricity, air conditioning, all-wheel drive cars, and super markets with a wide array of food options which would blow the minds of many people around the world.

Today we’re going to concentrate on Americans. We all have a wide array of options on how we choose to live our lives. For example, one can be fiscally irresponsible, depend on others for their daily existence, treat those around them with disdain and/or literally steal from those who worked hard for their tangible items. In America, we have a significant class of people who never go to work and obtain almost everything they have by stealing from others. That’s one of the reasons we have the largest prison population on the planet.

One luxury of being American is the wide array of news and information available to those who want to make the effort. We have fabulous newspapers in many towns and cities, plus numerous mass media options which allow us to stay current on national and global news.  You may not agree, but I think the majority of Americans fail to take advantage of these resources and instead rely upon others to tell them how they should feel about various issues. They don’t  read and do their own research, they listen to famous broadcasters or news networks which are actually political shows where the news is used as the vehicle to get across their political messages. In essence, they are told how they should feel about certain issues.

This was on display for the entire country during the 2016 Presidential campaign. If you watched the large Trump rallies, every time he mentioned the TPP or NAFTA, his blue-collar crowd would boo vociferously. I would bet every penny I have that 95% of Trump’s supporters don’t know what the TPP is and how it does or doesn’t impact their lives. Don’t know about you, but I find that terrifying. How can be adamantly opposed to something when they don’t even know what it is?

Conservative TV political commentator Joe Scarborough said for the first time in many years, Appalachia voted Republican.  He then added, millions of Appalachians depend on Obamacare for their health and survival, yet they voted for a man who promised to do away with the program which keeps them alive. I realize Hillary was a terrible candidate so their choice wasn’t easy, but how can someone vote against their own interests?

In the future, we’ll talk about other issues, both mundane and important. We hope you’ll continue reading and provide feedback.